Many women ask me if hormone replacement is right for them. It is not a simple answer since each and every woman is different and unique in her chemical makeup, genetics, lifestyle, and what she defines as healthy. Because each woman is an individual, a one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t get results and often frustrates the patient. Just as the body’s vitamins and minerals decline with age, the organs in women and men alike produce hormones that decline with age. Hormone replacement may not be for everyone, but it is important to understand the value of hormones in body functions and how our health declines without them.
Unlike vitamins, minerals and enzymes that are necessary cellular components, we need to turn our food into energy and building blocks. Hormones are the chemical messengers that our body needs in order to tell our cells what to do. Let me break this down: Think about your State Department of Transportation road workers. Your vitamins are the actual guys out there slinging the shovels and filling the potholes. Your hormones are the guys telling the workers which holes to fill. Without your hormones you just have a bunch of guys standing around leaning on their shovels.
Why We Need Hormones
Hormones come in a variety of shapes and sizes and have specific functions. For example, your thyroid hormone manages your metabolic rate; your appetite command and control hormones manage when you feel hungry and when you feel full. There are other hormones that let you know when it is okay to sleep and when to wake up, when to be fearful and when to be happy, when to build bone and when to release calcium from bone. These are a few examples. The one thing all of these hormones have in common is that they all pretty much work until we die. Not so much for the hormones involved in the aging process: estrogen, progesterone and testosterone. Unfortunately, they take a permanent vacation when women enter menopause. Just because they leave doesn’t mean you don’t need them anymore.
Every cell in the body has a receptor site for hormones. Without your hormones telling your cells what to do, your cells, like the road workers, sit and do nothing, or worse, they just quit and walk off the job forever! Why do you think women get post-menopausal osteoporosis? Why is there a higher risk for heart disease, stroke, and cancer in women after menopause?
It is known that if we do not replace hormones, our brain, bones, heart, vessels, joints, skin, mood and most importantly, quality of life, decline more rapidly.
Hormones Involved in Perimenopause and Menopause
Estrogens
Estrogen is responsible for 400 different functions in the female body. Estrogens can help with hot flashes, sleep, energy, depression, anxiety, irritability, brain fog, memory, joint and muscle pain, bone strength, sex drive, vaginal dryness, dry skin, and so much more.
Many studies show estrogens can help prevent dementia, heart disease, and osteoporosis, especially if administered by skin absorption and not by oral route. Research also shows that estrogen increases the levels of brain neurotransmitters serotonin and dopamine and improves good sleep and mental energy. Medical studies show that estrogen improves blood flow to the brain and can lower the risk of dementia.
Progesterone
Progesterone is the hormone that promotes calming and helps with sleep, anxiety, and mood. It helps to improve breast health and is often given in conjunction with estrogen to protect the uterine lining from abnormal cellular changes.
Testosterone
Testosterone is an important hormone for women’s sexuality, both libido and orgasmic function; it increases muscle mass and exercise endurance; it can improve mood, motivation, brain focus, and sense of pleasure or reward since it increases the neurotransmitter dopamine in the brain.
Synthetic vs. Bio-identical Hormone Replacement Therapies
Synthetic hormone replacement dominated the scene for women over the last several decades until several years ago when media attention was called to the risks of synthetic hormone replacement. Synthetic hormones have been known to cause many unwanted side effects such as weight gain, blood clots, mood swings, acne, and an increase in cardiovascular and cancer risks. This could be because these synthetic hormones have extra molecules which are not recognized by the body. They are not broken down by our body’s enzymes and may stay in the body for long periods of time as toxins and carcinogens.
Bio-identical hormones are exactly identical in their molecular structure to the hormones made in the body. These hormones are compounded from yam and soy by removing and/or adding extra molecules so they are recognized by your cells and tissues as your own. Bio-identical hormones are compounded by prescription only. Healthcare providers with special training evaluate hormone requirements through clinical symptoms and possibly blood or saliva tests. The prescription is tailored to the exact amount of each hormone needed for the individual’s balance.
Symptoms associated with hormonal decline before, during, and after menopause, including hot flashes, vaginal dryness, skin thinning, memory loss, concentration loss, anxiety, depression, weight gain, irritability, fatigue, insomnia, decreased sex drive, urine loss, muscle weakness and joint pain, can be significantly reduced with bio-identical hormone replacement therapy. In addition to symptom relief, bio-identical hormones protect your brain, heart, vessels, bones, skin, hair follicles, and muscles from decline.
There is currently more data on synthetic hormones than bio-identical hormones because synthetic hormones are patented and drug companies pay for the studies. Bio-identical hormones are generic to the human body like vitamins and they cannot be patented. Therefore drug companies have not been interested in footing the bill thus far. It is well-known that bio-identical hormones have been used in Europe for more than 60 years and studies show that they are both safe and effective.
Bio-identical hormones have been shown to protect against heart disease, high cholesterol, osteoporosis, and mental decline. They do not increase the risk of breast cancer. In fact, there is data showing that they may protect against breast cancer. At physiologic doses that replace your body’s deficiency, there are no known side effects.
In conclusion, whether or not we choose to replace hormones is a privilege that each one of us has. Many ask, “Is it safe taking hormones?” The real question is how safe are you without your hormones? The cells in your brain, heart, vessels, skin, hair follicles, and muscles all have receptors for hormones. As the hormone levels decline, all these cells and tissues lose stimulation, leading to a rapid decline in functioning and advancement of degenerative diseases.
